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Children aged 5–12, and adults from a rural area of Swaziland, along with urban based adults were assessed on their copying ability for a square orientated in two ways, squarely and obliquely; and under five different conditions. The children and rural adults experienced significant difficulties in copying the obliquely orientated shape, while the urban adults produced the shape without difficulty, although they all easily perceived the shapes and programmed the required movements. The results indicate that the process of planning the fine movements for drawing is learned, improves with age, and practice is necessary. Where planning is more complex, in the production and combination of oblique lines, it appears that the lack of practice in Swazi rural schools, and generally little requirement to use the skills, results in a delay of those particular drawing abilities.